Fun, Cheap Halloween Costumes To DIY, A Photo Gallery

Get a head start on Halloween. Are you planning for it already? Here’s one of the easier DIY projects around: go frugal by making your own unique, fun, cheap Halloween costumes.

I thought to lighten the mood with something more humorous and entertaining. I thought to salute a few Halloween ideas that I thought were cool in many respects — they are fun, custom, cheap and for the most part, unique. But before I proceed, I’d like to tell you how our Halloween plans are turning out so far.

Like all kids under the age of 10, my kids are pretty excited about the impending holiday where they get to wear their costumes in school and around our neighborhood. To save money, we ended up recycling one costume — our younger one is wearing the same thing he wore last year. Since he is going to a different elementary school this year, that’s quite alright as nobody has ever seen his outfit before! My older son has outgrown whatever we have available and settled for a ninja costume (just like what he wore a few years ago, except bigger).

This is a perfect segue to these savings tips I’d like to share for the Halloween season, especially as it deals with costumes.

Tips For Saving On Halloween Costumes

1. Use hand me downs or second hand attire, whenever you can.
But make sure you’re really getting a bargain. As mentioned, we’ve tried to cut costs by looking for recycled kid’s wear in the past. But it turned out to be hit or miss for us when we looked into some Craigslist selections that turned out to be a poor fit or were too worn to be reusable. In these cases, the time and gas spent to drive to a seller’s home were not worth the savings. But you may still luck out by checking the online classifieds anyway. Or maybe you know someone who’ll just outright give you their old garb?

2. Snag something on sale.
Another idea is to buy these costumes when they’re on sale. The best ways to save on seasonal purchases is to buy them way before or long after a given event or holiday, when they get discounted.

3. Make your own costumes!
We’re exploring this suggestion in more detail below.

Awesome DIY Cheap & Fun Halloween Costumes

You may probably have your costumes picked and ready to wear for goblin day already, but in case you don’t, then maybe some of the following creations I’ve come across may inspire you to come up with something memorable (hey, even the Mummy costume below could work?):

Costume 1: Mario Brothers

Photo by wtfcostumes.com.

These children are pretty cute in these Mario Brothers costumes. You can probably make up your own custom outfits by:

getting some caps and pasting on some letters on them (which you can have your children do themselves),

painting the moustaches on your kids,

picking up oversized gloves,

having your kids wear overalls.

Pretty simple! And did I say cute?

Costume 2: Wolverine

Watch out for sharp objects!

Photo by wtfcostumes.com.

I presume that this is an attempt at a Wolverine costume, but I guess he could also be Edward Scissorhands. But to complete the look, he’ll need way more work, better threads and makeup.

It may be an incomplete getup, but he gets points for hitting two characters with one costume. For the kid-safe set, you can start out on this look by making some “origami” claws.

Photo by instructables.com.

Costume 3: Lego Star Wars

Photo by wtfcostumes.com.

At first I had no idea who these people were supposed to be, but then I realized they were modeled after the characters in this video game called “Lego Star Wars, The Complete Saga”, which incidentally, has ranked well as a fantasy game for the Wii.

Costume 4: Kid Robots

Photo by wtfcostumes.com.

This comes straight out of some suggestions I made earlier on how to encourage your kids to hone their creativity while going light on your budget with some cheaper toys. This is a perfect DIY project for your own children to try (with your help) and once they’re done, it’ll be something they can be proud of.

According to WTFCostumes.com, here’s one robot costume that’s so wrong that it works.

Costume 5: Fancy Paintings

Photo by wtfcostumes.com.

These outfits are just outright cool. They look easy to replicate: create a frame, pad it, cover it with fabric, then wear a gown. You’ll probably also do alright without the frame — I can see how it can be an inconvenience to carry around. In case you’re wondering, these costumes are based on the paintings: Girl With A Pearl Earring by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer van Delft, and the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

Costume 6: When In Doubt, Be A Mummy

If you’ve run out of ideas but need to get into a costume quickly, then grab the most convenient thing. Try this look. You’ll only have to go to the bathroom to get the stuff you need!

Still Need A Costume For Halloween? How To Get Creative

Allow me to close with this fun video I came across. If you still need a costume for Halloween and you’re stuck wondering what you should dress up as, then here are some awesome tips from this guy:

As you can see from this presentation, the same costume can be used for Robin Hood or Peter Pan, depending on the use of facial hair and the inclusion of a knife belt — so you can try these looks on different occasions. Clever!

Now I still remember this one costume a dear friend wore to the office many many years back. He went in as a Green M & M (or was it Red). I wish I took some snaps of that one. Nobody I know has ever been so elaborate about a costume in recent years. Goes to show that a great costume will live on in your memory bank for years to come.

Really amazing and very innovative ideas, i like the fancy costume one.

Roger HamiltonOctober 31, 2008 at 7:26 am

Happy Halloween! Those costumes look pretty cool!

BerthaNovember 3, 2008 at 7:28 am

Really cool ideas, i wish i came across this article before halloween !!

Wolverine t-shirtJanuary 31, 2009 at 1:58 pm

Very clever Halloween costumes and an interesting attempt a Wolverine.

MeredithAugust 3, 2009 at 11:44 am

Great ideas! I particularly like the cardboard box robots and Fancy Paintings Halloween costumes. It’s amazing what you can come up with if you use your imagination. All these costume ideas are inexpensive, original and one of a kind! The kind that are sure to win the best costume contest.

TomAugust 23, 2009 at 12:57 pm

I think these photos and ideas are some of the best on the internet. I especially like the Mario Bros. and the Mona Lisa. It shows you don’t have to spend money in order to wear an unforgettable Halloween costume. Kudos on your post!

AlexFebruary 13, 2010 at 11:55 am

Wolverine is very funny !

GeeJuly 23, 2010 at 4:10 pm

I really like the Lego Star Wars one. It looks the most real, that’s fer sure! But I also like the origami claws.

Wittiness Display:

WOLVERINE’S STATS
LAME LEVEL: 122
EXP. TO NEXT LEVEL: 467
EXP. CAN BE EARNED BY: Making us another lame costume.

TerriAugust 15, 2010 at 9:03 pm

Loved this crazy article! I enjoyed all the costumes — you write a good blog! Now if you want decorations that are made from home and would like to attempt one, then stop by my blog at gotguides.com. It isn’t as well done as yours, but I have instructions on making a shrunken head!

GlindaAugust 29, 2010 at 3:34 pm

Homemade Halloween costumes are always great but if you’re not creative, visit my site for some really outstanding costumes ideas.

MartinSeptember 3, 2010 at 7:30 am

For me it just has to be the paintings…..what brilliant ideas. Having said that, the girl on the left is going to have a sore neck if she wants to keep the original painting look!!

ShonteSeptember 4, 2010 at 9:11 pm

I think these pictures are the most unique and fun I’ve seen in a long time; I will try to make the Mona Lisa painting this year. Wish me Luck!

Halloween IdeasSeptember 5, 2010 at 8:13 pm

Oh those Fancy Paintings are just too cute. I was thinking of being something else, but that costume idea is just great.

RebeccaSeptember 9, 2010 at 11:15 pm

These are some really original ideas — thanks for sharing! I think it’s great to think outside the box — you don’t even need to spend a lot of money to create a really innovative costume. You can also do a lot with hair, makeup and temporary tattoos, so just experiment!

Evening Cocktail DressesSeptember 15, 2010 at 4:44 am

I like the Mummy Costume! It is really funny! For Halloween, it could turn out to be the best costume. But I think it is suitable only for children under 10 years. A man or woman wearing a mummy costume would look, hmmmmm, not so cool.

Last Airbender CostumeSeptember 30, 2010 at 5:15 pm

Wow…some of those costumes are pretty good. That poor little boy dressed up like a robot with his brother didn’t seem like he was too happy.

Are you wearing a mask for Halloween? It seems that people lose their inhibitions when they do, as the video below will prove. It sure gave me the giggles, especially since this dance style seems so utterly familiar (I know too many people who move this way…. ). The music used in this epic, classic Halloween video usually plays non-stop at my kids’ school during Halloween celebrations. So now it’s engraved in my head (arrrgh).

Have a great Halloween! I’m usually chosen to man the fort at home (and the candy bowl); I hand out the treats while the rest of the family goes on the prowl with the rest of the neighborhood.

By the way, if it’s not too late for this year, I plan to get a bubble fogger machine for the occasion. It’s easily the most awesome Halloween item (toy?) I’ve seen in action in a while. It works like a bubble machine, except when the opaque bubbles burst, they release a mist.

JessOctober 29, 2010 at 8:27 am

The kids in my neighborhood are getting all geared up for trick or treat already. The costumes are going to be great this year.

ManshuOctober 29, 2010 at 10:58 am

@SVB, That dance is really funny. I had to stop watching it because it reminds me of the way I dance myself

Please visit my FB photo album. These are costumes I thought up over the years for UN Day, Filipino Week, etc. etc. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.110162792330892.19040.100000115159554&type=1&l=2e9e587d7b
Someone said I’m creative. I’m not. I’m totally cheap and I loathe spending on outfits. I made the Guy Fawkes costume from stuff from my closet, the hat is black cartolina (I found them from stuff that the previous computer teacher had left). I printed that mask and glued it on cartolina. The gloves, I sewed myself. Had to Google what a backstitch was. The results were atrocious, but since the whole costume is so striking, no one noticed my gloves had different-length fingers and uneven stitching. That belt? Just wear it outside the shirt. That’s all. I think what made the costume unique was 1) The idea: it’s totally relevant to UN Day (and even Halloween) and 2) The look is so striking and yet so simple I had it all lying around the house. I think my Gandhi costume is similar. I mean, he looked like he was wearing blankets! All I needed to do was shave my head.